van wallendael



Feb. 14, 1956 J. H VAN WALLENDAEL DIAGONAL RIBBON FEED 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 30, 1952 INVENTOR J.H. VAN WALLENDAEL ATTORNEY Feb. 14, 1956' J. H. VAN WALLENDAEL DIAGONAL RIBBON FEED .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 30, 1952 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. J. H. VAN WALLENDAEL BY WW ATTORNEY United States Patent DIAGONAL RIBBON FEED John H. Van Wallendael, Binghamton, N. Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 39, 1952, Serial No. 328,596

4 Claims. (Cl. 197-167) This invention relates to inked ribbon feeding devices and more particularly to means for feeding a ribbon so that diflferent portions of it are presented at the printing position according to the direction in which it is advanced.

An object of the invention is the provision of means for obtaining more wear and better inking performance from an inking ribbon.

Another object of the invention is the provision of devices for automatically feeding a ribbon differentially with respect to a printing line.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved ribbon advancing means including a loose guide roller on a slanted vertical pin whereby the ribbon when drawn around the roller tends to shift the roller in the direction towards which the supporting pin is slanted and thus the roller and ribbon rise up on one side and the ribbon is placed diagonally across the printing line as contrasted to the usual parallel alignment of it along the printing line.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of improved ribbon feeding devices including a crowned guide roller which is axially free to shift axially as urged by a moving ribbon drawn partway around the roller and moving away from an adjacent spool. As a result the ribbon rides high on a nearby positioning roller of extra length, said positioning roller being at one end of the span of the ribbon across the printer. The diagonal position of the ribbon is assumed alternately as determined by the direction of the movement of the ribbon so that with each reversal the ribbon is either placed parallel or diagonal with respect to the printing line. Because of this arrangement, the ribbon assumes dilferent positions with respect to the type and wear is not concentrated along one line or point and instead is spread over a greater area of ribbon. Along with the avoidance of excessive wear is the advantage of making better use of the ink present on the ribbon so that an area made relatively dry by passage of the ribbon in one direction is relatively free of use while the ribbon is moving in the other direction and this passage of time allows the diffusion of ink from relatively wet areas to rejuvenate the used area.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of examples, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the ribbon and the feed devices acting upon it to move it from left to right during which movement it assumes a position parallel with the printing line.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the ribbon and related feeding devices operating to move it from right to left, whereupon the novel devices of the present invention cause one end of the ribbon to rise and therefore it assumes a diagonal position across the printer line.

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Fig. 3 is a plan view of one portion of the ribbon feed ing and reversing mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation view showing associations of the ribbon R as it appears between the printing wheels PR and a record sheet PA wrapped around a platen P.

Fig. 1 shows the ribbon R as it appears when moved from left to right whereupon it is drawn oif the left spool 11 loosely pivoted on center 10 and drawn successively through and around a reversing roller 15 and a pair of guide rollers 12, 13 before bridging the span S which is the area through which the ribbon passes between the printer and the platen. The dot-dash line 23 shown in Fig. 1 is the printing line or center line of the printing type andit will be noted that the margins of the ribbon are parallel therewith so that the striking area of the printer is centralized with respect to the width of the ribbon. As the ribbon continues to the right it passes around an elongated guide roller 14 which is fixed axially with respect to the frame but rotated thereon. Next, the ribbon passes around a special crowned guide roller 18 which is loosely mounted for axial movement on a long slanted pin 17 with an enlarged base 19 secured to the frame 60. This long pin 17 is slanted or tipped at an angle of about 3 with respect to an imaginary line running perpendicular to the horizontal frame 60 and passing through the center of the base portion 19 of the pin. The direction in which the pin is inclined is towards the nearby guide roller 14. When the ribbon is drawn from left to right it assumes what might be called a normal position as shown in Fig. 1 where it is wrapped part way around the bottom portion of guide roller 14 and at the same time it is also wrapped around the special guide roller 18 while said roller assumes the lowermost position on the pin 17. After passing to the right of roller 18 the ribbon then moves between the reversing roller 15 and the reversing tab 50 before going into the spiral rewound position on the spool 20 which is loosely pivoted on the center 21. It will be noted that the pawl 31 cooperating with the spool ratchet 30 at the right is then effective to cause winding of the ribbon on spool 20 while it is being drawn off the spool 11 at the left.

The showing in Fig. 2 is concerned with the alternate position of the ribbon wherein it assumes an inclined or diagonal aspect relative to the printing line 23. The reason it assumes such a position is because of the construction already noted involving the slanted supporting pin 17 and the axially movable crowned guide roller 18. Whenever the ribbon is drawn towards the left it tends to move the crowned roller 18 upwardly and the roller so moves axially and vertically along pin 17 until the point is reached as shown wherein the ribbon is wrapped part way around the top end of the guide roller 14. It is prevented from rising further by the shoulder on guide roller 14 and as long as the pull is from the left, the ribbon at the right end is elevated as shown and drawn from a direction substantially higher than usual with respect to the right end of the printer. 7

The feed spool 11 at the left as shown in Fig. 1 is ordinarily termed the righthand feed unit because the machine is usually viewed while looking toward the platen from the printer. This is explained here'because hereinafter when reference is made to the showing of the ribbon feed device inFig. 3, that is called the righthand ribbon feed unit.

Only one side of the ribbon feed unit is shown in Fig. 3 because the other side is substantially a duplicate of it and an understanding of the feeding and reversing of the ribbon may be gathered with reference to just this half. The ribbon holding spool 11 is keyed to a spacing ratchet wheel 30 to be turned thereby whenever the wheel is driven by a feed pawl 31.

The ribbon feed unit shown is the righthand unit which is illustrated with the parts ready to be shifted into a position to feed because the ribbon on the related spool is just about exhausted. As long as there was plenty of ribbon on the righthand spool the left unit did the feeding and the unit shown was ineffective because the feed pawl 31 was so situated circumferentially that even though it swung back and forth it was ineffective because the tail 32 thereon was held depressed by a fixed stud 33 so that the pointed feed end 34 was held away from the teeth of the ribbon spacing ratchet wheel 30.

The reversal of the ribbon feed is caused by a change in the positional relationship between a notched driving member 35 and a driven feed lever 46 connected thereto flexibly through a connector 44) with a roller 39 held in one or the other of the notches 35 or 37 in the driving member 35.

The notched member 35 is loosely pivoted on the ratchet center and is driven positively by link 33 which is articulated thereon at 42 and is reciprocated on every platen space operation of the printer. On every ribbon feed cycle, link 38 is first raised (as seen in Fig. 3) sulficie'ntly to cause reversal when necessary and then it is pulled down. to cause feeding, and finally it is raised part way which brings it again to the normal position. As the parts are seen in Fig. 3, reversal is taking place from an ineifective to an effective condition which was caused by the lifting of link 38 and a counterclockwise swinging of member 35 and the jumping of the connector roller 39 from the ineffective notch 36 to the effective feed notch 37.

The connector 49 is pivoted on a stud 41 which is also the fulcrum of the feed pawl 31 and both are pivoted on the feed operating lever 46 which is in turn loosely pivoted on the main stud 10, Lever 46 is connected by link 45 to a similar lever for the left unit which is made automatically ineffective by any shift which makes the right unit efifective. A large spring 43 tends to hold the connector 40 with the roller 39 on the free end in one or the other of the notches 36 or 37 and flexibly held there as a connection between the driver 35 and the driven lever 46. Another spring 44 on feed pawl 31 tends to pull it into action whenever it passes to the right of the camming action of stud 33.

' When the ribbon R is near exhaustion on the right spool 11, a button 57 thereon is drawn between a guide roller and an extending tab 59 on a reverse lever 49 which is loosely pivoted on the roller stud 18. The button 57 then hits the tab 50 on the right and causes the lever 49 to rock in a counterclockwise direction and in so doing it lifts an abutment pawl 52 into the path of stud Q1. The abutment pawl 52 is pivoted at 54 on the reverse lever 49 and is held against it by a spring 51 which tends to restore both the pawl and the lever. Normally the abutment pawl end 53 is lowered so that stud 41 can swing over it and thus continue to leave the connector 40 with the roller 39 in the ineffective notch 36, but when a reversal is in order as shown, then the abutment is raised and prevents the stud 41 and the attached connector and pawl from moving to the left with the notched member 35. The result is that the connector 40 is lifted and the roll thereon is jumped into the effective feed notch 37 so that on the subsequent clockwise swing of the drive member 35, the fed pawl 31 is swept away from the depressing action of stud 33 and allowed to engage a tooth of ratchet 30 to drive it in a clockwise direction. In alternation with printing and in concert with paper feeding, the feed pawl continues to operate the ratchet in winding the inking ribbon on the righthand spool 11 until the supply of ribbon on the left spool is exhausted to the point where a button at that end is brought into play similarly on the reversing mechanism of the lefthand unit as already explained with reference to the righthand unit.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a ribbon feeding device, a pair of ribbon spools with a ribbon drawn between them, a series of guide rollers for positioning the span of ribbon between such spools, means for operating said spools to feed and reverse the direction of movement of said ribbon back and forth between said spools, a crowned guide roller at one end of said span and an elongated pivot for said crowned guide roller permitting axial movement thereof when the ribbon is drawn in one direction, said pivot being slanted in a plane substantially parallel with the longitudinal path of movement of the ribbon.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein at one side of said span of ribbon is located an elongated shouldered guide roller, said crowned guide roller being adjacent to said elongated guide roller and around which the ribbon is wrapped part way, said pivot being a slanted vertical pin upon which said crowned roller is axially free to be moved vertically when the ribbon is drawn from the opposite end of said span, said pin being slanted towards said shouldered guide roller, whereby said ribbon is elevated at the end of the span with said elongated roller and wherein the ribbon is limited in its elevation by the shoulder thereon.

3. In a ribbon feeding device, a pair of ribbon rewind spools, means for feeding and reversing the direction of movement of the ribbon between said spools and having, in combination, a crowned guide roller for the ribbon and a slanted vertical pin upon which said roller is axially free for vertical movement, the direction in which said pin is slanted being towards the path followed by the ribbon in going towards one of said spools, whereby the ribbon at times is raised at one end by the elevation of said guide roller on said pin and assumes a diagonal position between the spools.

4. In a ribbon feeding device, a pair of ribbon rewind spools, means for feeding and reversing the direction of movement of the ribbon between said spools and having, in combination, a crowned guide roller for the ribbon and a slanted vertical pin upon which said roller is axially free for vertical movement, and an elongated guide roller for the ribbon near said slanted pin, said elongated guide roller being on a truly vertical center and said pin being inclined toward said center at an angle of approximately 3, whereby the ribbon when drawn in the direction from the crowned roller to the guide roller is raised at one end by the elevation of said guide roller on said pin and assumes a diagonal position between the spools.

Thieme Nov. 6, 1917 Kupfer May 8, 1928 

